A number of years ago, the Applicant discovered the unexploited possibilities of the floor as an advertising or information surface. To remedy this deficiency, at that time he developed a display which is commercially available under the name FloorWindo.
The FloorWindo is a flat interchangeable picture frame for posters intended to be laid on a floor, in particular on a shop floor. If necessary, a shopping trolley can be pushed over it without the display or image carrier being visibly damaged. Floor advertising in this form has a number of characteristic benefits. It is striking and in principle does not take up any space. Since it can be positioned as desired, advertising can be placed close to the corresponding product, where the customer takes the definitive decision to purchase, known as the point of purchase or point of sale. Various tests have demonstrated that floor advertising is extremely well perceived by the shopping public and increases the sale of the recommended products significantly.
The demands imposed on flat image carriers of this type are high, including the resistance to the heavy loads caused, for example, by the shopping public or the shop staff with pallet trolleys and the protection of the poster from moisture and dirt. In addition, the display also has to be user-friendly and maintenance-friendly and must rest on the base such that it cannot slip.
In addition to the FloorWindo, various alternatives have been devised for floor advertising, including floor stickers. However, stickers have the drawbacks of not being reusable, that it is a specialist job to apply them to the floor, in particular the edges and corners of the product are susceptible to wear, and once the stickers have been removed they can leave behind residues of adhesive on the floor, which are difficult to remove.
A floor display is also known from EP 0 857 028. FIG. 3 of this document shows an embodiment in which the floor display comprises a window plate and a baseplate. The window plate is bonded to a frame of a flexible material over the entire periphery, while the baseplate is held releasably by the frame by means of a positive lock. The frame to this end comprises a clamping edge. During production, the window plate and the baseplate are together placed in a mould, where the flexible frame is moulded on such that it bonds to the window plate but not to the clamping edge of the baseplate, over the peripheral edge of the latter. A suitable choice of material for the respective plates in this case ensures that the frame is bonded to the window plate but is not bonded to the baseplate during the injection-moulding process.
One drawback in this context is that the ease of use leaves something to be desired. For example, exchanging an image carrier between the plates is difficult and takes up a relatively long time. In addition, two different plate materials have to be used, each with different characteristics, in particular different bonding properties, and possibly also different expansion coefficients. This means that it is necessary for a relatively wide frame to be moulded on in order to be able to ensure dust-proof and watertight enclosure of the releasable baseplate. This problem is exacerbated if the dimensions of the display increase, for example, to Al format, which is often used in floor displays. One drawback with the clamping retaining of the baseplate is that with relatively great lengths, such as in the said floor displays, the frame with clamping edge also has to be relatively high, in order to be able to offer sufficient resistance to the relatively high forces which are exerted on the plates and the frame, for example by people walking over the display or shopping trolleys being pushed across it or when the display is being picked up. For this purpose, the frame also has to be made from a sufficiently rigid material. The required rigidity of the frame is, however, disadvantageous when an image carrier is being exchanged. After all, the baseplate for this purpose has to be removed from the relatively rigid clamping edge and then fitted back behind it after the image carrier has been replaced. In addition, the relatively high hardness of the frame ensures that the resistance of the floor display to slipping on the floor sometimes leaves something to be desired.
Furthermore, U.S. 2002/0139026 has disclosed a floor display in which a window plate is held in place, by means of a positive lock with a clamping edge, by a frame made from a flexible material, while a baseplate is bonded to the frame on only one side of its peripheral edge. An image carrier can be arranged between the plates by the window plate being lifted up while the baseplate remains lying on the floor. During production, inserts prevent the frame material from being bonded to the three peripheral edge sides of the baseplate which are to remain free.
One drawback in this context is that the positive locking of the window plate requires the frame to be even higher and wider and made from an even more rigid material, with all the associated drawbacks described above. In addition, the use of the inserts means that a relatively large opening is created between the frame and the three peripheral edge sides of the baseplate which remain free. This is disadvantageous for dustproofing and watertightness. Furthermore, the plates and the frame can easily be displaced with respect to one another if a person collides with the vertical edge which projects above the window plate. Furthermore, the vertical edge has the drawback that dirt can accumulate behind it and that water and cleaning agents remain present inside the edges after cleaning, and that the corners and edges are difficult to clean.